Rosneft and Pirelli sign protocol for first Pirelli flagship store in Russia

Russia represents a key market for Pirelli because of the positive outlook for its car sales

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Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, April 15 (Itar-Tass) - Rosneft and Pirelli have signed a protocol of understanding for the construction of Pirelli’s flagship Premium tyre store in Russia, which will be located within the new Rosneft flagship filling station in Sochi.

The protocol signed also envisages the subsequent development of other points of sale at selected Rosneft filling stations and joint marketing activity “Safe Road with Rosneft and Pirelli” (“Safe&Go”), Rosneft said in a statement on Monday, April 15.

The protocol - signed by Igor Sechin, Rosneft President and Chairman of the Management Board, and Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli’s Chairman and CEO - pushes forward the companies’ strategic marketing and commercial agreement signed by the parties in December 2012.

The flagship store, branded “PZero Platinum”, should be completed in the fourth quarter of this year and will be located within Rosneft flagship petrol station in the city of Sochi, on the Black Sea coast in the region of Krasnodar. As already announced, the groups will initially focus on this region and take advantage of the exposure provided by 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, of which Rosneft is a partner.

Other similar points of sale will follow at Rosneft stations in locations offering access to Premium customers. As part of the Protocol, the companies also plan a joint marketing activity “Safe Road with Rosneft and Pirelli” (“Safe&Go”) that envisages tyre check-ups for Rosneft filling stations’ clients.

Commenting on the signing, Igor Sechin said: “The Protocol signed today underscores the parties’ commitment to long-term cooperation. We are delighted to develop our retail network in partnership with Pirelli - one of the world’s leaders in tyre production. We believe implementation of Pirelli’s production and services will make Rosneft filling stations even more appealing to customers and thus will make the partnership beneficial for both Rosneft and Pirelli.”

“For Pirelli, Russia is a key growth market and having a local partner as prestigious as Rosneft will enable us to reach, with their guidance and support, every valuable corner of the country effectively and relatively quickly,” said Marco Tronchetti Provera.

Rosneft is a Russian oil industry leader and one of the largest public oil and gas companies in the world. Rosneft’s main operations are exploring for and producing oil and gas and producing and selling petroleum products and petrochemicals.

In 2012, Rosneft confirmed its status as the world’s largest company by proved liquid hydrocarbon reserves as well as its position as the undisputed leader by hydrocarbon resources among publicly traded oil and gas companies.

Pirelli is the fifth largest producer of tyres in the world in terms of sales and today counts 22 tyre production plants on four continents, is present in over 160 countries and employees over 30,000 people worldwide. As a part of its international expansion strategy, the company, in a joint venture, has acquired two production plants in Russia, one in Voronezh and one in Kirov, to serve the growing Russian market.

Russia represents a key market for Pirelli because of the positive outlook for its car sales. According to a Global Insight forecast published in April, the Premium car segment, on which Pirelli’s strategy is focused, is expected to grow by 5.2 percent in 2013 compared with 2.0 percent for the general market and by 8.5 percent in 2014 compared with 2.1 percent for the general market. Further, total new car registrations in Russia are expected to be around 3.4 million in 2017, up from around 2.9 million in 2013; with premium registrations rising to 257,000 from 183,000 over the same period.